Netherlands’ Davis Cup captain wants to ‘poison some of the food’ of Italian players to stop Jannik Sinner from playing

Netherlands have reached the Davis Cup final, while Italy, which also has Jannik Sinner, will be playing in the semifinals on November 23.

Netherlands’ Davis Cup captain wants to ‘poison some of the food’ of Italian players to stop Jannik Sinner from playing

Jannik Sinner (Image via X)

Jannik Sinner will wrap up the season after Italy’s matches at the Davis Cup. His country is through to the semifinal and is set to lock horns with Australia on November 23 in a rematch of last year’s final.

Netherlands, on the other hand, have reached their first final in the tournament. Their captain, Paul Haarhuis, is wary of the Sinner threat and has joked about wishing to ‘poison’ their food to stop Italy from winning the tournament.

YouTube video

We’re playing so well, guys are getting confidence from these wins. But the other semifinalists are very tough teams. Italy as defending champs with Sinner, I think we’re going to have to poison some of the food over there. We gotta come out with big balls on Sunday.

Paul Haarhuis said after the Netherlands’ win over Germany

The Netherlands, after knocking out Spain in the quarterfinals (which also ended Rafael Nadal‘s career), played Germany in the semifinals. In the first match, Botic van de Zandschulp overcame Daniel Altmaier before Tallon Griekspoor, who came from a set down, beat Jan-Lennard Struff to seal the berth in the final.

Italy, in the quarterfinals, defeated Argentina 2-1 with Sinner sailing past Sebastian Baez in the second match. In the first match, Italy suffered defeat, for Lorenzo Musetti lost to Francisco Cerundolo. Sinner also played doubles with Matteo Berrettini and the Italian pair secured the win over Maximo Gonzalez–Andres Molteni in the decider.

Paul Haarhuis once explained why Jannik Sinner is different from other Italian players

Jannik Sinner has emerged on the scene as a player who keeps his cool even during tense moments. Paul Haarhuis lauded Sinner and claimed the Italian’s persona as well as his talent plays a role behind his victories.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (via X)

We have also seen that with other Italian players over the years. They tend to be quite excitable on court traditionally, but Sinner is different. What Sinner has got is a more German persona. He just shows up, goes about his business and he has it all.

Paul Haarhuis told Tennis365

Sinner is the most successful player in men’s singles this year, for in his trophy cabinet, he has included eight titles, two of them being Grand Slam trophies (Australian Open and the US Open). Before the Davis Cup, the World No. 1 lifted his maiden ATP Finals trophy with a straight-set win over Taylor Fritz.